SIG-3

S3 – Transcriptional regulation: molecules, cells and systems

Short Description

After nearly a decade in existence, short-read bulk RNA-sequencing has decidedly gone mainstream, but new technologies keep evolving to reveal ever more intricate aspects of the transcriptional landscape of a cell. For example, single cell sequencing allows to trace cellular differentiation in minute detail, to study cell-to-cell heterogeneity, or to identify rare cell types, whereas long read single molecule RNA sequencing (Pacbio, Nanopore) allows the analysis of full-length transcripts to elucidate structural variations, expression variations within complex gene families, or the rapid identification of pathogens. Development of new technologies brings novel biological insights previously hindered due to technical limitations, but also means that data processing and analysis protocols are currently far from standardized, leading to fruitful interactions between computational and experimental scientists.
This one day SIG session will bring together experts from computational biology and machine learning to present recent advances in the development and application of new computational tools, resources and methods to analyse RNA sequencing data generated using new emerging technologies, with a focus on (but not limited to) single cell RNA-sequencing. The programme will be split into two half-day sessions. The first half will focus on computational challenges arising from these data, both in terms of raw data processing and downstream biological discovery, while the second half will focus on novel biological insights that have already been gained from them. Each session will feature an invited speaker and three short talks.